Wagon-gear



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

N. L. HOLMES.-

WAGON GEAR.

No. 380,893. Patented-Apr. 10, 1888.

PI. PUEBS. PhMo-Lhhognpher. Wnshingwm D. C.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

. Patentd A r.- 10, 1888.

N.-L. HOLMES.

(No Model.)

WAGON GEAR.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NATHAN L. HOLMES, OF RAGINE, WVISOONSIN.

WAGON GEAR.

QPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 380,893, dated 10, 1888.

Application filed July 30, 1857. Serial No. 245,664. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, NATHAN L. HOLMES, of Racine, in the county of Racine and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wagon-Gears; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to an improved means in the nature of flanged metal castings or coupling-pieces for connecting the rear ends of the front axle-hounds with the sway-bar of a wagon-gear.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and pointed out in the appended claims.

The improved device herein shown as embodying my invention embraces as its main features of construction two flanged castings adapted to fit over and embrace the upper and lower surfaces and the sides of the adjacent ends of the wooden hounds and sway-bar.

engagement with the castings.

Each of said castings is provided upon the inner surface of its horizontal wall with an inwardly-projecting part adapted to fit a shal low transverse notch or gain in the adjacent top or bottom surface of the hound or swaybar, whereby the said hounds and sway-bar are positively held from being withdrawn from The saidcastings are connected with each other by bolts passing through them and through the ends of the hounds and sway bar, as hereinafter fully set forth.

The invention may be more fully understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of the hounds and sway-bar provided with connecting devices constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of the joint between the hounds and sway-bar, taken upon line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken upon line 44 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail section taken upon line 5 5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the two parts or castings of the device separated from each other. Fig. 7 is an enlarged transverse section through the said castings, taken upon line 7. 7 of Fig. 1.

As shown in the said drawings, A A indicate the axle-hounds and B the sway-bar.

O 0 indicate a pair of castings or couplingplates affording means for connecting the ends of the sway-bar with the hounds.

D is a metal bar or strap attached to the upper surface of the sway-bar to prevent the latter from being worn by contact with the reach.

E E are the circle-posts attached to the upper surface of the hounds, E the circle, and F F the braces which extend from the outer portion of the hounds to the under side of the axle G.

H H H H are bolts inserted through the hounds and sway-bar and the said castings for holding the said parts together, and IEP H are bolts employed for securing the strap D to the sway-bar.

' The casting 0 consists, mainly, of a flat plate, which is placed over the top surfaces of the adjacentparts of the hounds and sway-bar, and is provided at its side margins with two deep flanges, c c, which extend over the adjacent side portions of thesaid hounds and swaybar. The casting G similarly covers the under surface of the adjacent end portions of the hounds and sway-bar, and is provided with deep flanges c c, which extend over the surfaces of the said hounds and sway-bar and meet or nearly meet the similar flanges, c c, of the casting O. The said casting O is further provided upon its inner surface, at its end which engages the sway-bar, with a projection, 0 extending across the inner surface of the plate between the flanges 0 c, and adapted to enter and fit closely within a transverse notch or gain, b, cut in the top surface of the sway-bar,

Figs. 3 and 5, while the casting G is similarly endwise out of engagementwitli the said castings, notwithstanding the loosening of the parts by shrinkage of the wood or from other causes.

In the upper surface of the casting O and in the lower surface of the casting G, exterior to the transverse projections O and G, are formed depressions or recesses 0 0 said recesses being adjacent to the end faces of the horizontal parts or plates of said castings and being extendedinto the said plate from the end thereof a distance somewhat less than the horizontal thickness of the said projections O G. In

other words, the horizontal walls or plates of the castings are set in or offset adjacent to the ends of the castings, so that the projections G C and the recesses 0* (I are formed without making the casting any thicker adjacent thereto than at other points, as clearly seen in Figs. 4 and 5. The recess 0 of the top casting, 0, is constructed to receive the end of the strap D, which is secured to the top surface of the sway-bar in such manner as to allow the latter to come flush with the adjacent upper surface of the casting, said recess 0 for this purpose preferably being made of the same depth as the thickness of the said strap. The recess G of the casting O is similarly constructed to receive the end of the inclined brace F, by which the outer end of the hound is connected with the lower surface of the axle. One of the bolts H, by which the castings are secured to each other and to the hounds and sway-bar, is preferably'inserted through the end portion of the strap D and through a bolt-hole, 0 formed through the wall of the casting in the 'said recess 0*, and another bolt H is similarly inserted through the end of the brace F and a hole, 0 located within the recess 0 of the casting O. The placing of the bolts through the said brace and strap and through the bolt-holes of the castings obviously serves to rigidly connect the several metal parts to each other, thereby adding greatly to the durability and strength of-the structure. The employment of the recess O for the end of the strap D is, furthermore, of great advantage, for the reason that it insures the support of the end of the strap flush with the casting C, so that the upper surface of the sway-bar, over which the reach slides or moves, is rendered perfectly smooth, it being entirely obvious that if the said casting 0 and the strap were separate from each other and connected solely by the wooden part of the sway-bar any irregularity in the surface of or warping or shrinkage of the sway-bar would change the position of the strap with relation to the casting, and thus throw the upper or bearing surfaces of the said parts out of the same plane, and thus produce irregularity or roughness in the bearing-surface against which the reach acts. Another advantage gained by the presence of the said recess G is that, when the end of the strap is placed therein and the bolt inserted through the end of the strap and the part of the casting beneath it in the manner described, said bolt may be tightened to any desired extent in clamping the parts together without affecting the relative position of the end of the strap and said casting.

At the end of the casting G opposite the recess O", and adjacent to thehound, the main part or horizontal plate forming the body of said casting is prolonged to form an arm, 0, which extends over the upper surface of the hound toward the axle, and is secured to the bound by bolts H H. The said arm 0 in the particular construction herein shown extends to the adjacent circle-post E of the hound, and is constructed to afford a support for the latter. The said circle-post, when this construction is employed, may be conveniently secured in place upon the hound by means of a long bolt, H which extends through the circle-post and the extremity of the arm C and through the hound. As illustrated in Fig. 4, the brace F, the end of which is secured in the recess 0 of the lower casting, G, in the manner above de scribed, is extended along the under surface of the hound, and is also secured thereto by the bolts H and H The lower casting, O, is also desirably provided with an arm or projection, 0 extending beneath the sway-bar and secured to the latter by one of the bolts, H, by which the strap D is secured in place upon the sway-bar.

The employment of the arms 0 and (3 upon the castings O and G: is of great advantage, inasmuch as said arms form points of attachment to the hounds and sway-bar at considerable distances from the ends of said parts, thereby adding greatly to the strength and rigidity of the connection between them.

As a further improvement in the coupling pieces or castings G, provided with arms 0 or C in the manner described, the main horizontal parts of said castings, together with said arms, are made somewhat thicker than the side parts or flanges, and are'recessed upon their under surfaces, so as to leave marginal ribs 0 0 extending along the sides of the arms and along the edges of the castings adjacent to the flanges O and O, and preferably, also, around the bolt-holes. This construction affords a considerable degree of rigidity in the said arms without an undue increase in weight thereof, while at the same time it affords relatively small or narrow bearing-surfaces in contact with the top and bottom surfaces of the .wooden hounds and sway-bar. The advantage of this construction is that it enables me to force the metal slightly into the wood by the pressure of the bolts in bringing the parts together, so that the castings may have afirm and solid bearing upon the woodthroughout their entire length, not only when the parts are first put together, but after a considerable degree of shrinkage in the wood has occurred.

For the purpose of giving additional rigidity to the flanges c c 0 c of said castings G O, vertical transverse flanges c c c c are formed at the middle part of the said castings in such position as to come between the ends of the hounds and sway -bar, as clearly shown in Figs. 1, 6, and 7. The bolt H herein shown is located in the same plane with the said flanges 0 0 so that it is located between the ends of the hound and sway-bar, and serves only to connect the castings with each other.

For the purpose ofgiving a smooth bearingsurface at the top surface of the hounds and sway-bar in their parts between the circleposts E E, the several bolt-apertures of the strap D and of the casting G are countersunk, and the heads of the bolts made flush with the top surfaces of the said strapand castings, in the manner clearly shown in the drawings.

The castings or coupling-pieces made in the manner shown may be employed in connection with hounds and sway-bar made of any desired cross-sectional shape. In the particular construction shown, however, said hounds and sway-bar are rounded at their edges, and the flanges c c c c are made flaring and concave upon their inner surfaces to fit the curvature of the said hounds and sway-bar. The flanged castings are preferably made slightly smaller in size than will easily fit over the ends of the hounds and sway bar, and said castings are brought to place by the application of consid-, erable pressure, thereby insuring a tight fit of the parts, even when a considerable shrinkage of the wood afterward occurs.

A main feature of novelty in my invention is embraced in the construction in which the two flanged castings embracing the adjacent end portions of the hounds and sway-bar are provided with transverse projections extending between the flanges and engaging transverse gains or notches formed in the upper and lower surfaces of the said hounds and sway bar, and this construction is herein broadly claimed, without restriction to any of the other details of construction illustrated and described. Other'features of construction in the device illustrated are, however, also novel, and are herein specifically claimed as part of my invention.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with the hounds and sway-bar provided with transverse notches or gains in their top and bottom surfaces, of coupling pieces or castings O and O, consisting ofplates fitted against the top and bottom surfaces of the hounds and sway-bar and provided with marginal flanges embracing the sides of said hounds and sway-bar, and with transverse projections upon the under sides of the said flat plates, said projections beingconstructed to engagetlie said notches or gainsin the hounds and sway-bar, and clampingbolts inserted through the castings and the hounds and sway-bar for holding said parts together, substantially as described.

2. A metal coupling piece or casting, as O or 0, connecting the hounds and sway-bar of a wagon'gear, said coupling piece or casting consisting of a plate provided with marginal flanges and a transverse projection, as C or G, on itsinner surface adjacent to its end, and with an external recess, as O or Ctfornnng with the said projection an offset in the said i plate, said external recess being adapted to receive the end of a strap or brace attached to the hound or sway-bar, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the hounds, a sway-bar provided with a transverse notch or gain in its top surface near its end, and a strap, D, secured to the top surface of the sway-bar, of coupling pieces or castings G and 0, consisting of plates provided with marginal flanges embracing the sides of the hounds and sway-bar, the said casting 0 being provided at one end with a transverse pro ection, 0 entering the said notch or gain in the swaybar,and with an external recess, Cflconstructed to receive the end of the strap D, substantially as described.

4:. The combinatiomwith a hound and swaybar provided with notches a and b in their upper and lower horizontal surfaces ad acent to their ends, of flanged castings O G, fitted over the end portions of the hound and swaybar and provided with transverse inwardlyextending parts 0 O, engaged with the said gains or notches ab, and boltsinserted through the said castings and the hound and sway-bar for holding the parts together, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the bounds and sway-bar provided with transverse notches or gains a and b in their top and bottom surfaces adjacent to their ends, of coupling pieces or castings O and 0, consisting of plates fitted against the top and bottom surfaces of the hounds and sway-bar and provided with marginal flanges enibracingthe sidesofsaid hounds and sway-bar, each of said castings G and 0 being provided at one end upon its inner surface with a transverseprojection engaging one of the notches or gains a and b, and with an IIO external depression or recess occupying the spaces external to the said projection, a metal strap, D, secured to the top surface of the sway-bar and having its end inserted in the recess of the casting O, a metal brace, E, baving its end inserted in the recess of the casting 0, and bolts inserted through said castings, strap, brace, hound, and sway-bar for securing said parts together, substantially as described.

6. A coupling piece or casting, O or O, for connecting the ends of a hound and sway-bar, said coupling piece or casting consisting of a plate provided with marginal flanges embracing the sides of said hound and sway-bar and prolonged to form an arm extending along the top or bottom surface of the hound or swaybar, the under or inner surface of said plate and arm being recessed to form ribs which bear against the wooden hounds and sway-bar, sub stantially as described.

7. The combination,with hounds, sway-bar, and circle-posts of a Wagon-gear, of means for connecting the hounds with the sway-bar,con-

sisting of two flanged coupling pieces or cast In testimony thatI claim the foregoing as my IO ings, C and O, embracing the top and bottom invention I aifix my signature in presence of 7 surfaces and the sides ofsaid hounds and swaytwo witnesses.

bar in their parts adjacent to their ends, the

' castings O O at the top of the hounds and I NATHAN L. HOLMES.

sway-bar being provided with rigid extensions or arms 0 0 extending to a point beneath and supporting the said circle-posts, substantially as described.

Witnesses:

G. CLARENCE PooLE, O. N. WILLIs. 

